The Father’s house is a mysterious yet wonderful matter unveiled by the Lord Jesus in John 14. We need to see what the Father’s house is. It is not merely the house where all God’s children dwell and are a part of.
The Lord Jesus had to go to the Father and then come back so that He would prepare us all a place in the Father’s house. What does this mean? Also, the Lord mentioned that there are many abodes in the Father’s house. What are these many abodes?
If we carefully read the gospel of John we will realize that when the Lord Jesus was born, God was brought into man, and through death and resurrection He brought man into God so that God and man would be mingled together.
He gave us a hint about this in John 1 when He told Nathaniel that he will see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man (John 1:51, an indication of Christ bringing the heavens to earth through incarnation and then bringing man into God through death and resurrection).
God’s desire is not merely to have “a big house filled with His children”. God wants to have a mutual dwelling place, an incorporation with man. In John 17 we see that the Triune God desires to enlarge the oneness They have among Themselves so that man would be included. The church today is God dwelling in man and man dwelling in God – God in man and man in God.
The Lord’s coming was His bringing God into man, and His going was His bringing man into God for the building up of the Father’s house, the Body of Christ, the church. The New Jerusalem, as the ultimate consummation of the church, is the city where God dwells in His people and all God’s people dwell in God.
When we were regenerated, God was brought into us. Now, as we spend time with the Lord and are being shepherded by Him, we are being brought into God through transformation and glorification – until we dwell in Him and He dwells in us.
It is mainly in John’s writings that we can see that Christ brought God into man and He is bringing man into God so that God and man to dwell in one another to become a mutual dwelling place.
The Father’s House: God Dwells in Man and Man Dwells in God
The Lord Jesus as the good Shepherd is mending us, perfecting us, working on us, restoring us, equipping us, completing us, attuning us, harmonizing us, and He is working Himself into us as our life and everything so that we may be mingled with Him and be built up together into the Father’s house.
If we read John 14-17 under the divine light we will realize that the Father’s house is a very important matter – it is the Triune God working Himself into His believers so that He may be mingled with them and may build them up as His organism, the Body of Christ, for God’s dwelling place and expression.
God desires to have a dwelling place with man and in man, and when the Lord Jesus came, He brought God into man (John 1:1, 14) and then through death and resurrection He brought man into God.
It’s almost as if when the Lord Jesus came He brought “a gift” to man – He brought God to man. Then, through death and resurrection, He brought a gift to God – He brought man into God. His going and His coming are for the purpose of bringing God into man and man into God so that God would dwell in man and man would dwell in God.
All genuine believers are in God by being in Christ, through Christ, and by Christ. The Lord encourages us to abide in Him (John 15), and He assures us that in that day (in the day of His resurrection) we will know that, just as the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father, so we are in the Son – we are in the Triune God.
As we love the Lord and keep His word, the Father and the Son come to make an abode with us. We abide in God and God abides in us. Through His going and His coming (John 14:2-3), the Lord Jesus made man an abode for God and made God an abode for man.
Now man and God dwell in one another, and corporately we are the dwelling place of God, the Father’s house. In a mysterious way through all our circumstances and situations, God is working Himself into us and He is building us into Himself as we love Him and keep His word.
Just love Him. Just love His word. Just open to Him. Just let the Lord make His home in your heart through faith. Just focus on this: being open to the Lord that He may build Himself into you and build you into God! It helps to tell Him,
Lord, keep me abiding in You! Thank You for being in me and for putting me in You. Lord, keep me abiding! No matter what, keep me in You! Build Yourself into me, and build me into You! I want to just love You, open to You, love Your word, enjoy You in the word, and let You work Yourself into me so that I may be in reality a member of the Father’s house, God’s building!
Let the Lord Shepherd You all the Days of Your Life into His House!
The Lord’s shepherding results in us becoming the Father’s house (John 10:10, 14:2-3). In Psalm 23 we see the same thing: the goal and destination of Christ’s shepherding is that, “Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the days of my life! And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever…” (Psa. 23:6).
The Triune God as goodness (the grace of Christ, the Son) and lovingkindness (the love of God the Father) shall follow us (the fellowship of the Holy Spirit) all the days of our life as the Lord shepherds us organically today.
We simply need to be open to His organic shepherding, and the Lord will usher us into the enjoyment of God in the house of God, the Father’s house, the church. It is here, in the Father’s house, that we will dwell for the length of our days, under the shepherding of the Lord Jesus in life.
The enjoyment of the processed and consummated Triune God as the Spirit, our pasture, ushers us into the enjoyment of God in the house of God – which is the church, the Father’s house, consummating in the New Jerusalem!
In this age we enjoy the organic shepherding of the Lord Jesus as the good Shepherd, and for eternity we will enjoy the shepherding of the Lamb who leads us to springs of water of life (see Rev. 21:2-3, 9-10)!
Today we sometimes know and feel His sweet shepherding in life, and at other times we don’t feel it. However, we need to be open to the Lord’s shepherding today! Let the Lord shepherd you organically in the house of God all the days of your life!
He is the good Shepherd in His heavenly ministry, and there are many who in His Body on earth today correspond and cooperate with His shepherding ministry to shepherd us. When we let the Lord shepherd us, we will be enjoying the Triune God in the house of God and we will also shepherd others. Oh, let Him shepherd you today in the Father’s house!
Lord Jesus, keep us open to Your organic shepherding. We don’t know what we need and we don’t know what to ask for. We simply ask that You would keep us open to Your shepherding in life. We want to enjoy Your shepherding in the house of God all the days of our life, and we desire to dwell here in Your house! Let goodness and lovingkindness follow us all the days of our life, and may our living be under Your shepherding in the Father’s house for the rest of our days as the New Jerusalem, the consummated house of God!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Minoru Chen’s speaking in the message for this week, and portions from, The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John (chs. 38-39), as quoted in, in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Mending Ministry of John, week 3 / msg 3, The Shepherding of Christ for the Church as the One Flock and the Father’s House.
- Further reading: recommending Psa. 23 with footnotes in the Recovery Version Bible.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Now in the life-flow we’re living, / O how the light in us shines! / Both God and man are at home now / By the mutual abiding in the vine. [Hymns #1162]
# Only goodness and mercy will follow me / All the days of my life, / Only goodness and mercy will follow me / All the days of my life, / And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. [Scripture song]
# And now in His house I am dwelling / Enjoying the goodness of God; / My pleasure is far beyond telling, / My pleasure is Jesus my Lord! [Hymns #1170]
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